Karzai's Judgement Questioned Over Appointments

During his successful presidential campaign last year, Hamed Karzai told voters that the warlords who held sway over vast portions of the country presented a serious threat to the nation.

Many Afghans are now wondering why he has appointed so many to important positions in his present government.

Of course, technically speaking, three of Karzai's more controversial appointments - Abdul Rashid Dostum, Abdul Karim Khalili and Ismail Khan - are no longer warlords.

Dostum, the new chief of staff of the armed forces, gave up his private military leadership in mid-April. A general under the Soviet-backed regime of the Eighties, he founded the Junbish militia, which virtually ruled the northern provinces after the communist government fell in 1992.

Second Vice-President Khalili, who was named to head the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme, is no longer the head of the Hizb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami faction, which received Iranian support during the years of factional fighting.

And Ismail Khan, who was appointed minister of water and energy, has been replaced as governor of Herat province, a position that he used, in effect, to rule the western part of the country.

All three men have been cited by numerous human rights organisations as being responsible for thousands of deaths and numerous war crimes committed between the fall of the Najibullah government in 1992 and the Taleban takeover in 1996.

For example, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, in a detailed report released in January 2005, said the warring militias and their commanders should be called to account for atrocities committed during that period, including widespread murder of civilians, rape and conscription of young boys as fighters.

A fourth controversial Karzai appointee, Sebghatullah Mojaddidi, while never accused of war crimes, was one of the leading figures in the mujahedin movement.

Several non-partisan analysts defended Karzai’s decision to place former militia commanders in central government posts.

Bringing together leaders who held political as well as military power is essential to restoring national solidarity and security, said Mohammad Sediq Patman, an influential member of the commission that drafted Afghanistan's constitution.

One analyst said the appointment of Mojaddidi – a respected Pashtun figure - could further Karzai’s efforts to reach disaffected members of the Taleban and reintegrate them into society.

The issue is a sensitive one because Taleban fighters still claim responsibility for insurgent attacks, and the United States and other international forces warn they could try to disrupt the parliamentary election. Karzai has offered amnesty to Taleban fighters who lay down their arms, provided they are not accused of crimes.

"Mojaddidi is a moderate," said Abdul Kabir Ranjbar, president of the Afghanistan Lawyers' Association. "He can make peace with the Taleban forces, because he is a religious leader, and the Taleban will trust him."

Ranjbar also believes that Khalili could play a role in helping disarm the country.

"He still has militia support, and he is an influential figure in some parts of the country,” he said. “He can disarm the others. He speaks their language, and they understand each other."

However, those who survived the civil wars of the early Nineties will never forget the violence that some of Karzai’s appointees wrought on the country.

The issue could have a bearing on the outcome of September balloting for Afghanistan's parliament.

Prospective voters interviewed by IWPR said they had counted on Karzai protecting them from the civil war commanders, not bringing them into his government.

"I myself will not vote for Karzai's deputies, because he broke the promises he gave the people," said Hamidullah, a resident of Kabul's Third District.

Political analyst Mohammad Qasim Akhgar agreed, saying Afghans could not forget the destruction of their country and capital by the commanders of private militias fighting for their own personal advantage.

"Appointing these people will prevent us from undoing this knot of problems," he said. "In fact it will lead the country [back] towards the crisis of the 1992 era."

A spokesman for Karzai declined repeated requests for comment on the issue.

Abdul Baseer Saeed is an IWPR staff reporter in Kabul.